Google may be penalizing your SEO content. Here's how to fix it.
Have you ever felt the sting of frustration when, after meticulously crafting SEO-optimized content and waiting expectantly for months, you still don't see any significant movement in your Google rankings? I see this predicament with small and medium-sized businesses constantly – it’s a frustrating problem for companies hoping to use SEO as a lead-generating tool.
The reality is that despite your best efforts in following SEO best practices, there could be underlying issues causing Google to sideline your content.
In this article, we're going to peel back the layers of this conundrum. We'll delve into some of the most common reasons why Google might not be ranking your SEO-optimized content as highly as you'd expect, and more importantly, how you can rectify these issues.
4 Reasons Why Google Isn't Ranking Your SEO-Optimized Content
Understanding why your content isn't ranking well on Google can be a game changer for your online visibility. Here are four critical areas where your SEO strategy might be missing the mark.
1. You're Not Targeting Any Keywords at All
As an SEO consultant, I can’t count the number of times I’ve reviewed struggling content for a client and could not answer one basic question: what is this article about? When you don’t begin with keywords in mind, your content is unfocused, and therefore Google can’t figure out where you should show up in search results – if it even considers your content valuable at all.
You simply must start by choosing a keyword to target. This seems basic, but so many businesses think of a topic and then just write about it without asking themselves, “Is anyone actually looking for this content?” This is just a waste. You’d be better off just leaving your business’ blog empty and spending your valuable time on other things.
Keywords act as guideposts that tell Google what your content is about and how it should be indexed. Without them, your content is virtually invisible to the search algorithms that determine your ranking.
2. You're Not Targeting the Right Keywords
Even if you’re using keywords, they might not be the right ones. Targeting highly competitive keywords, or ones that don’t align well with your content's topic or your audience’s interests, can be futile. It’s about finding a balance between relevance, search volume, and competition.
I like to use SEMrush to help me build a basic roster of keywords to target. I look for three things in a keyword, in order of importance:
Is it relevant? If a keyword is not relevant to your potential customers, there’s no point in pursuing it.
Does it have volume? The keyword may be relevant, but if no one is searching for it, then you won’t get traffic.
How competitive is it? There are fantastic keywords out there that would bring you lots of high-quality traffic. Unfortunately, many of them are highly competitive. Your website probably doesn’t rank high enough to get them, so target low-competition keywords.
The key is to identify keywords that are not only pertinent to your content but also accessible and likely to attract your target audience.
3. You're Not Writing the Right Content for Those Keywords
Having the right keywords is just one part of the equation. The content itself must be closely aligned with those keywords. This means creating content that thoroughly answers the queries and meets the needs associated with those keywords.
Google prioritizes content that best satisfies user intent. If your content doesn't align well with the keywords you're targeting, it won’t rank well, no matter how well it's optimized otherwise.
What does that mean? Let’s consider a couple examples.
Misaligned Content
Imagine a business that sells organic skincare products. They decide to target the keyword “best organic skincare routines” but end up creating content that primarily focuses on promoting their products. The article lists their products, talks about their benefits, but fails to provide an actual skincare routine or advice on how to integrate these products into one.
Users searching for “best organic skincare routines” are likely seeking guidance and step-by-step routines, not just product listings. As a result, this content would not satisfy user intent, leading to poor ranking on search engines.
Content That Matches User Intent
Now, let's consider a business in the same industry that also targets the keyword “best organic skincare routines.” This time, however, they develop an article that outlines detailed morning and evening skincare routines, incorporating advice on skin types, the benefits of organic products, and how to use them effectively. They subtly weave in their products as part of these routines, providing practical value to the reader.
This approach aligns perfectly with the user intent behind the keyword. Readers get the valuable information they were looking for, which in turn, positions the content favorably in Google’s search rankings.
4. Your Content Doesn't Provide "Information Gain"
I know there are some business owners and content creators out there saying, “yeah, yeah, I know about how to target keywords and how to match intent, but I’m still struggling.” Well, for you more advanced SEO types, Google has made some very big changes in the last year or two.
Lately, they’ve been prioritizing something called “information gain.”
The problem Google is trying to solve is this: there’s gobs of content out there on a billion subjects. The old way of SEO writing – and I speak from experience – is to choose a keyword to target and then just Google a lot of content already out there, and then combine or aggregate all of this information into a new article.
This approach once had a benefit to the readers – after all, it provided all the information in one place rather than scattered all over the web. But these days, where SEO-optimized content is ubiquitous, that’s just not good enough anymore. Why is Google going to push you to the top of search results if you’re just rehashing what everyone else is saying? They won’t.
Now, if you want to move your article up in the result, you’ve got to go above and beyond.
Google wants your article to provide “information gain” – that is, better and more helpful information than what’s already out there. That’s great news for businesses like yours – after all, as someone who’s in the industry, you know more than 99.9% of the public about your industry, and certainly more than some SEO content creator like me.
Google wants “original, high-quality, people-first content demonstrating qualities E-E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness).” Because of your expertise, you have the power to provide that. And you should definitely use that advantage now to boost your company to the top of search results.
How to Turn Your Content into Google Gold in 6 Easy Steps
OK, so now we know what mistakes you might be making with your content. Here’s a quick 6-step checklist to ensure you make your next blog post a masterpiece that Google’s algorithms will fall in love with.
1. Do a Deep Keyword Dive
SEMrush’s Keyword Gap tool is an excellent way to find keywords you can rank for.
The first step in your SEO journey is a comprehensive keyword analysis. I like to build a roster of high-relevance, high-volume, low-competition keywords with two tools: SEMrush and Google Search Console.
SEMrush
Many of you are familiar with SEMrush – if you’re not, it is a subscription service but you can get a free trial. SEMrush has a tool called a Keyword Gap Analysis, located in the menu at left when you log in. It’s pretty simple: you enter your website’s URL in the box, and then you enter the URLs of a few of your competitors. SEMrush then examines what keywords you all share, and perhaps some keywords your competitors are ranking for that you’re not.
This helps you identify keywords that are relevant, and then you just sift through these results for low-competition keywords. You can group related keywords into clusters, and then use these clusters to figure out a good blog post that would target these keywords.
Google Search Console
An underrated tool for finding new keywords is Google Search Console. Hopefully, you already have this set up on your site – if not, do so immediately. Within GSC, you can see what keywords you’re getting clicks and impressions for.
I like to see keywords where a site gets high impressions but a low click-through rate. This indicates that the keyword is relevant to our site, but we don’t have any content targeting that keyword.
2. Settle on a Few Tightly-Focused Blog Topics
Now that you’ve got your roster of keywords, it’s time to identify some blog topics. Don’t try to create big expansive guides – for each keyword, just settle on a tightly focused blog topic that narrowly answers the question the reader appears to be asking by searching this keyword.
If you’re unsure of what the topic of a blog should be for a keyword, try searching for that keyword in Google. See what topics are near the top – this is probably the focus your blog post should have if you want it to rank.
3. Check Out the Competition
Another good reason to check out the current search results for the keyword you’re creating content for is it tells you what your SEO competition – not necessarily your business competitors, but specifically the content you’re trying to beat – is covering in their content.
What kind of topics and issues does their content cover? You want to have all of the information they have and more in your piece. Remember, it’s not enough for your piece to be as good as the competition – it’s got to be better.
4. Interview Your Subject Matter Experts
Before you start writing, it’s time to make sure your blog post offers that sweet “information gain” that Google wants. The great news is, you’re the experts! You’re not some SEO writer Googling information to turn it into a blog post – you’re the actual person who knows what they’re talking about (or at least you have people in your company who do).
Choose a list of topics, generate some questions you can ask your subject matter experts (SMEs), and then interview them while taking notes – or recording the conversation (with everyone’s permission) for transcription you can use. Then, incorporate this information into the blog post. I like to directly quote my SMEs in the article for maximum impact, and to help Google identify that my content is expert-driven.
This approach adds a layer of credibility and depth to your content that is highly valued by both readers and search engines.
5. Write with the Reader in Mind
Finally, always tailor your content to solve your reader's problem. Put yourself in the reader’s shoes. Am I solving their problem? Would a brief demonstration video or a graphic make the piece even better?
Your goal should be to provide clear, concise, and helpful information that addresses the specific needs and questions of your audience. This user-first approach not only enhances the user experience but also aligns with Google's preference for content that provides real value to its users.
6. Publish (and Don’t Forget the Basics)
Now that you’ve written a brilliant piece, go ahead and publish. But please, don’t forget the basics – they are so important, and I see so many businesses forgetting to do them. Here’s a handy checklist:
Add a meta description (no more than 155 characters)
Create a title tag of no more than 60 characters that includes the focus keyword
Use the keyword in your intro
Use the keyword throughout, particularly in headers (but just a handful of times – it shouldn’t look spammy)
Include images where it makes sense, and add alt text that describes the image
Always have a call-to-action at the end that directs the reader to an action you want them to take, like reading another piece of content or downloading a free e-book
With all that done, publish your content and sit back, relax, and watch the traffic roll in! Well, it’s not going to happen overnight. But you’re on your way to a steady stream of free leads – which is what we’re all after.
Struggling to Find the Time? I Can Help You – And I'll Do It for Free
Now it’s time for my CTA. As you can see, there’s nothing stopping you from creating fantastic content that gets traffic – except time, of course. In my experience, folks like you have a million things to do, and while you understand the value of SEO, there’s just not enough time in the day when there are more pressing issues.
So let me help. Just submit your email and website using our Free Report form, and I’ll create a free 3-month content strategy (and deliver it to you within 24 hours) that lays out a roadmap detailing:
What your website’s reputation in Google is
What keywords you should target
What blog posts you should write in order to get to the top of search results and start generating leads
Why do we do this? Because we often find that businesses love the plan and want us to execute it for them. After all, we can do it at a fraction of the cost of an SEO agency that offers a lot of services you don’t need, and we handle EVERYTHING – keyword research, interviewing SMEs, content creation, publishing, and analytics reports so you can see how your content is performing.
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